Musical Representation of Sound in Computer-Aided Composition A Visual Programming Framework

This article addresses the problem of the representation and creation of sound by synthesis in the context of music composition, as seen from the computer-aided composition (CAC) perspective. An important theoretical basis of this work is the concept of computer modelling, discussed in relation to the notions of sound representation and music composition. Modelling sound as a signal is extended to the musical domain by considering as an alternative modelling composition as an activity that aims to produce sounds. The visual programming paradigm is adopted for the representation and conception of the composition models, and therefore for the musical representation of sounds. A composition framework dedicated to electro-acoustic music and sound synthesis integrated in the OpenMusic CAC environment is presented. Temporal issues are also discussed and are the object of specific developments.